Top 10 Tips For A Smooth Office Relocation

Your business is growing, your staff is expanding, and your current location just isn’t enough to support your evolving enterprise. So what do you do? You move office!

But an office relocation is nothing like moving house (which is already stressful enough as it is). Moving an office has its own sets of worries, quirks, and silly issues. To help you out with your office move, here are our top 10 tips for a smooth office relocation. Enjoy!

1. Plan: The Earlier, The Better   

Maybe you moved house with little to no planning and just a few days of preparation, but an office relocation won’t be nearly the same thing. We recommend at least three months of planning beforehand (but if you can do it earlier, that’s even better).

Not only do you have to account for your own items, but every person in the office needs to figure out all their own personal logistics: from what they will bring and what they will leave behind, and how they’ll fit their lives around this new daily location.

2. Move Digitally Before Moving Physically  

These days, we exist as much in the digital world as we do in the physical one (and in some cases, even more so in the digital). On top of reprinting your business cards and other printed company material, you will also need to update all your digital addresses.

This means altering your NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) with Google, which means you have to make sure all your new information is consistent across a number of pages, such as Local.com.au, Yellow Pages, and any other popular business sites in your area.

3. Recycle The Older Gadgets  

Any office is sure to have some build-up of gadgets both old and new, with old computers lying around and dingy spare keyboards and mouses saved just in case of emergencies. It’s time to part with these older gadgets and leave them behind. Make sure to dispose of these items properly – donate or sell them.

And if you’re throwing away anything that holds data, make sure to properly erase everything, even if you think the item might be broken. Because if you don’t purge that company data completely, it might come back to haunt you if it falls in the wrong hands.

4. Plan Ways To Keep The Business Going  

In a perfect world, your office relocation will go perfectly and business will be up and running again normally the next day or after the weekend. But as a business owner or manager, you have to be much more responsible than that.

Prepare for the worst-case scenarios and figure out a Plan B that will allow your business to remain at least semi-operational just in case the office relocation is majorly delayed for whatever reason.

5. Non-Essentials On The First Trip  

There’s no reason to try to move everything in one trip, and if you need to remain operational for as long as possible (and get back up as quickly as possible), then you need to focus on moving as much as you can without disabling the beating heart of your business for too long.

This “beating heart” is usually your computer equipment, and everything else – from the conference tables to the office lounge gear – is non-essential. Move these out first, and try to keep your computers plugged in as long as possible. And as soon as you arrive at your new location, unpack your IT equipment first, giving your IT guys the time to set up all the new networks while the rest of your team finishes the move.

6. New Storage For Tighter Spots 

If your office is moving to a smaller area than your current space, then you need to prepare for a tighter spot. The best way to do this? Optimise your storage. Find new ways to better stack, store, and organise all your files, documents, and closet stuffing.

7. Take An Inventory Of Everything  

The general rule is, the fewer people doing inventory, the better. For a smaller business, a single manager should be able to take an inventory of everything on their own. This means that you only have a single mind with a single clipboard keeping track of everything coming in and out of the old and new office. If your business is too big for a single manager, then have each department head keep an inventory of their department’s items.

8. Have A Manager At Both Locations Until Relocation Is Complete  

Managing a business is all about leadership. Not only do you need to have a consistent vision across the board, but non-managerial employees aren’t always comfortable making executive decisions on their own, just to end up getting blamed if something goes wrong.

That means it’s best to have a leader at each site – the old one and the new one – from start to finish. Make sure each manager has an easy way to contact the other, and both have previously discussed and agreed on all the details.

9. Check The Building For Any Possible Issues  

You might not know all the rules of the new building you’re moving into, so check and ask around. See if they have certain hours for moving, or if you need to fill out any forms or documents for any special equipment you might have.

10. Work With Professionals Who Have Done This Before 

With so many details to keep in mind, the best advice we can give is this: work with professionals who have done this before! Not only do you save you and your team the unfamiliar task of packing and moving critical items like computer hardware and office equipment, but you also give yourself more space to handle all the non-moving issues during the move.

At Giffen Furniture Removals, we cut out the stress and add in the ease. We make sure that your office relocation goes as smoothly as possible so that you can focus on what’s important: managing your business.

Request a quote for all your moving and storage needs today by sending us a message or giving us a call!